REPRODUCTTOil AUTHORIZED

Brrrssels, 2 October 1973

No. 2O4

Between 1ÿ62 and 1ÿ10 the arr:eual number of mergers and.

takeovers within the Community of the Six rose from 1?3

*o 612" In comparison hrith tine 1962-1ÿ66 period, thegrowth rate of mergers between 1ÿ66 and" 19?0 has practicallyd.oubled.; an increase has likewise been observed. since1ÿ6J in the United. Kingdom.

The October 1972 Paris Summit Conferenee d.rew attention tothe problems likely to result from excessive concentratj-onand. emphasized..in particular that the establishment ofa single industrial basis for the Community ag a wholemeant d.evising measures for ensuring that aiiy mergers

involving companies within the Community were in conformitywith the Commwrityls economic and. social objectives and.

wou1d. not affect the maintenance of effective competitionin the common market. The European Commission therefore

This bullcfin is publishod by thc Diractoroic Gcncrol Prcsr qnd lnformolion of thc Commission of thc Europcon Communitics

For furthar informoiion plcosc opply to thcCommission of thc Europcon CommuniticsDircclorotc-Gcncrol for Prcss qnd lnformoiionDivision for indurtriol ond scicniific informolion200, ovqnuc dc lo Loi1040 Brusscls - Tcl. 350040

or ony of thc lnformqtion Officcs of thc Europcon Communitias (lisr insidc covcr)

{.. ,,1" . _..-1 ..' jù. _ ii .\ .; .ir r'r : ..\

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The infomwtion ond, article,s published in this Bulletin concern European scien-tific cooperation and, industri,al deuelopmcnt in Europe. Henee they are not simplyconfined to rcports on the ilecisions or oiews of the Commissioz of the EuropeanCommwüties, but cooer the whole field of quesiions discussed in the differentcircles concerned.

.:f

I BERLIN 3IKurfürstendomm 102ré1. 886 40 28

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IO4O BRUSSELS200, rue de lo Loité|.350040

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PRESS AND INFORMATION OF

DUBLIN 24l Filzwilliom SquoreIe!.66223

I2O2 GENEVA37-39, rue de Vermontré1.349750

LONDON SW I23, Cheshom Streetré1. 235 4904 à07

LUXEMBOURGCenlre européen du Kirchbergtâl. 479 41

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

NEW YORK IOOIT277 Pork AvenueTé1. 371.3804

PARIS l6e61, rue des Belles-Feuillesrét. 553 53 26

ÏHE HAGUE22, Alexonder Gogelwegré1. 33 4l 23

WASHtNGTON, D.C.200372100 M Street, N.W.Suite 707ré1. (202) 296-sr3l

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X/494/73-E

put forward to the Council of Ministers in July 1973 a proposed

Council regulation on the control of mergers. ANNEX 1 contains

extracts from the speech given on 18 September 1973 in Dublin to the

Fourth Congress of the European Federation of Building Societies

by Mr Ronan, Director-General for Press and Information at the

European Commission.

** Despite advances in ore-body exploration, exploitation and extraction

techniques, ~~'rJ.9!..2!. sq~m1 N!:!£.RAL R,?SOpR£~, and particularly

of many metals, is to be feared during the coming decades. It will

consequently become necessar.y to use substitution processes, replacing

a given raw material by a different one with similar properties. but

in greater abundance, and also to develop recycling processes enabling

spent materials to be re-used. Rec.ycling is the more necessar.y

because apart from the exhaustion of resources there is the problem

of the degradation of the enviromnent through pollution caused, in

particular, by dumping large amounts of scrapped materials into it.

This is the background against which the Conununi ty mul tiannual

research programme, put forward by the European Commission and adopted

b,y the Council of Ministers in June 1973 (see IRT No. 195), has made

provision for a research project in the field of the RECYCLING OF RAW • -~·m

~'fATSI~Lf\.LS to be carried out b,y the Joint Research Centre. A brief -~;'1>.......-. .... n,--note on this subject is given in ANNEX 2.

** ~...J contains a selection of RECENT PUBLICATIONS added to the

Scientific and Technical Library of the Commission of the European

Comnunities. These works~ be consulted at the library (1, avenue

de Corbenberg, 1040 Brussels, Loi Offices, 1/43) or borrowed.

** The European Parliament's Committee on Regional Policy and Transport

has·reoorded its approval in principle of the European Commission's

.;.

X/494/73-E

IRT No. 204, 2 October 1913.a..P.:.~

. proposals for the establishment of a REGIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE AND

A EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND and the financial regulations

applicable thereto. It notes with regret, however, that the

European Commission's proposals are unilaterally economic in

character and that not enough consideration has been given to the

social and human factors; the underdevelopment of certain regions

is not evident solely in the economic sector but also, and

particularly so, in the educational, vocational training, public

health and other sectors.

** THE OUTPUT OF CRTIDE STEEL in the Community of the Nine has increased

b,y 8.5% during the first eight months of 1973 by comparison with the

same period in 1972, and the OUTPUT OF PIG IRON has increased by

11.9%. The table given below shows the growth in pig iron and

steel outputs in the various Community countries:

j Ou.tputs of :mw steel ' : I 'i

Ja.n.~.A.ug. Comparison ; 1973 with Jan.- I l I C i 1 Jan.-Aug. , 1 ompar son

i 1973 I with Jan.­j ( 1o3 metric I Aug. 1972 i tons) ! (%)

( 103 metric Aug. 1972 .1 tons) (%) '

l Germany ~~ 32,618 I +13.6 I 24 1169 +15.1 J

I ::;· 1 :~:~~: : ~:; I 1

!:~~ : !:~ I ! Netherlands i 3, 751 + 1.5 I 3,178 +11.4 I I Belgium j10,433 +11.o i e,612 +11.7 1

I Luxembourg 1173,,9

68361

++ 89

•• 88 1

1 3,384 I + 9· 3 11

i United Kir.gdom 11,393 i +16.3

! Denmark ! 277 -15.8 I i_ f J i i · 1 ' , ... C-o-mmun--J.-. t-y----1--9-8-, 1_7_1 ___ .. -.. -~-S-.-5---.;..~--70-,-1-6-2-. --: ,~l, -+-1-1-. 2---41

X/494/73-E

IRT No. 20;1. 2. October 12]3. E·4

** The Report of the results of the :BUSINESS SURVEYS CARRIED OUT AMONG

HEADS OF ENTERPRISES IN THE COMMUNITY of the six original member

countries between the end of February 1973 and the end of June 1973

has now been published by the European Commission. In the Community

as a whole the surveys have highlighted the vigorous and ongoing

nature of expansion. Almost all sectors have been instrumental

in stimulating economic activity. The stimuli appear to derive

primarily from the capital goods sector and, to a lesser extent, from

the intermediate and consumer goods industries. The production outlook

is still very good. During the last few months over 9o% of

management expected their rate of production to remain unchanged or

accelerate. In addition, reports on order books show a. steady

improvement. This being so, industrial production may be expected

to remain buoyant. Managements consider that pressures on selling

prices will continue in the coning months.

This Report is on sale in Dutch, English, French, German and Italian

from the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities,

Case Postale 1003, Luxembourg 1, at a price of Bfrs 50.

** The European Commission is keeping a systematic "tra.tch on the

DEVELOPMENT OF CONCENTRATION IN SEVERAL SECTORS. This is what the

Commission said recently in its reply to a written question from

Lord O'Ha.ga.n, Member of the European Parliament, concerning

competitive conditions within the CommUnity. The Commission further

stated that a. list of sectors exists for this purpose. Its role is

limited to enabling certain sectors to be observed in particular

so that a.ny cases of ooncentra.tion of firms which bring about a.

reduction of the consumer's freedom of choice, which is incompatible

with the EEC Treaty rules on competition, can be pinpointed. The

list of sectors Q.y no means constitutes in itself presumption of

.f.

X/494/73-:2

l]! ~o. 204, 2 October 1973. P•1

infringement of the rules on competition.

** Thirty scientific journalists from eight countries (Austria,

l3elgium, France, Germa.ny, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United

IQ~cuon) have just completed a study tour in Isreal as part of the

activities crganized by the EUROPEAN UNION OF ASSOCIATIONS OF

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALISTS. Included in the places of interest visited

were the Weizmann Institute, the Universities of Jerusalem,

Tel-Aviv and the Negev and the Israeli Institute of Technology

(Technion). The journalists were invited by Professor Katzir,

President of the State of Israel, to dine at his residence.

** In its commentary on the forminG of a COMMUNITY ENERaY POLICY',

the Union of Industries of the European Community (UNICE) considers

it necessary for the Community to specify, as soon as it is·a.ble,

the appropriate conditions under which an energy supply may be

cuaranteed, includins quantitative data on its future structure of

a kinct to gu.ide long-term business initiative.

European industry considers it desirable for the Community to adopt

firm decisions as soon as possible in order to achieve the following

prime objectives:

(a) an energy supply organized on the br0adest possible basis through

efforts to diversify as to types of energy and territories of

origin;

{b) the inauguration of active joint cm1sultation between the

Community and the main industrialized regions importing energy

sources, with the object of specifying the means necessary

to ensure adequate medium-term end long-term supplies at the

lowest possible cost for every region, ~d of defining their

joint attitude in any crisis situation; .f.

X/494/73-E

IRT No,., ,2,9A. 2 Oct~er 19Z,3,,~·.§.

(o) the establishing of a Community policy jointly agreed with

the major consuming regions with the object of improving

relations with the petroleum producing and exporting countries

through initiatives at the economic, scientific, technical and

cultural levels;

(d) an expansion of energy activities, notably through tax and

financial concessions of a kind to encourage oil and natural gas

prospecting; support for measures in the nuclear energy field

(acceleration of the nuclear power station construction

programmes and the provision of a uranium enrichment capability

within the Community); the granting of the proper research

facilities to enable new methods for using a~d producing energy

to be developed; the optimum harnessing of domestic energy

resources; an encourage~ent of a ~ore effective and efficient

energy utilization policy, etc.

European industry emphasizes• furthermore, the importance of

speeding up the work to create a. common energy market t \'Thich

means eliminating national segregation of the Community's

resources and abolishing the numerous technical, economic, fiscal

and regulatory disparities whiclt still prevail.

** The Eul·opean Commission held a TECHNICAL SEMINAR at Erlangen in

Germany from 24 to 28 September 1973 on the development of a standard

method for determining the enzyma.tic activity of the dehydratase of

delta-aminolevulinio acid (ALAD) in ~he blood. In the context of

the Commission's work on the effects of lead in the environment

(particularly in the atmosphere from the combustion of motor fuels),

it has been proved that the activity of this enzyme in the blood may

be used as a. sensitive indicator of human contamination by lead •

. ;.

X/494/73-E

IRT No. 204, 2 October 121Je g.7

Representatives of specialized laboratories in Member States of the

Community, Sweden and Finland participated in this work.

** From among the number of SCIENTIFIC .AND TECHNICAL REPORTS which have

recently been published by the European Commission, special attention

is drawn to the follot-rlng:

1. Air lead concentrations in the European Community (Yearly

Report, April 1971 to March 1972).

Report No. EUR 4982 d, e, f, i, n: 168 pages; Bfrs 210.

Available in German, English, French, Italian and Dutch.

2. La pollution radioactive - son elimination (IIe partie: les

installations industrielles).

Report No. EUR 4981 f: 28 pages; Bfrs 40. Available in

French only.

3. Comparison of the radioactive contamination of the total diet

of adolescents in the Conmrunity (III. Analysis of food

consumption in the institutional diet programme).

Report No. EUR 3945 e.III: 32 pages; Bfrs 50. Available

in English only.

4• Some phase equilibria and thermo~amic considerations for

irradiated oxide nuclear fuels.

Report No. EUR 5013 e: 60 pages; Bfrs 70. Available in

English only.

5· Contrale radio gra.phiqu.e de particules enrobees pour reactuer

a haute temperature.

Report No. EUR 5021 f: 42 pages; Bfrs 60. Available in

French only.

The above publications are obtainable from the Office for Official

Publications of the European Communities, Case postale 1003, Luxembourg 1.

X/494/73-E

I~T ~o. 20~ 1 2 Oc~ober 1973, ANNF~ ,1 ~·1

MAJ:Nil!ENANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMPETITION DT THE EUROPEAN COMMU1ITTY AND CONTROL OF MERGEHS

,_ (excerpts from an address given by Mr Ronan, Director-General for Press

a.nd Information in the European Commission, at the 4th Congress of the

European Federation of Building Societies, in Dublin on 18 September 1973)

.Between 1962 and 1970 the annual number of business combinations in the

Comr;nmi ty of the Six - defined as financial pa.rticipations of more than

50%- rose from 173 to 612. In comparison with 1962, the yearly

number of combinations had thus increased three and a half times by

1970. In comparison with 1962-1966, the rate of increase in 1966-1970

had almos-t doubled. Among the new countries, there ha.s been a particular

increase in the number of combinations in Great Britain since 1965.

The danger which over-concentration represents for the maintenance of

effective competition is well enough known: not only can it lead to

the adoption of conpletely arbitrary price policies, but it also restricts

consumer choice and workers' freedom to choose between various employers.

Furthermore, dominant undertakings are often in a position to keep

potential competitors out of the market.

The Paris Snmmit Conference in October 1972 drew attention to the problem

cf such mergers and stressed that the establishment of a single industrial

base for the Community as a whole involved the formulation of measures

to ensure that mergers concerning firms established in the Community are

in harmony with the economic and social aims of the Commun~ty, and the

maintenance of fair competition as much within the Common Market as in

external markets, in .conformity with the rules laid down by the Treaties.

Obviously, for the Commission to know whether particular combinations are

likely to upset the balance of competition, it must be informed of such

X/494/73-E

IRT No. 20~ 1 ~October 1973 ANNEX 1 ;e.g_

operations in advance. The Commission therefore made a proposal for . .

a Council Regulation, forwardod to the Council in July 1973, in which

it provides for the prior notification of intended mergers and takeovers.

The proposed regulation stipulates that if a combination between

undertakings or groups of undertakings of which at least one is situated

on Community territory will enable these undertakings to acquire power

or increase their power to impede effective competition in the common

market, then the combination is incompatible lvith the common market

in so far as trade between Hembar States is likely to be affected.

This principle does not apply if the aggregate turnover of the firms

involved in the combination represents less than 200 million u.a. and -if the goods or services concerned by the operation represent no more

than 25% of the business carried on, in any member country, with goods

or services which are identical or considered as similar b,y the consumer.

Proposed combinations must be notified to the European Commission when

the total turnover of the firms concerned is equal to or greater than one

thousand million u.a. However, combinations envisaged by .. a firm or

group of firms which has already attained er exceeded this turnover figure

need not be notified to the Commission if the turnover of the firm to

be taken over is less than 30 million u.a. (For ba.nk~ng and fim.ncial

institutions, the turnover criterion is replaced by the criterion of

one-tenth of the total assets; for insurance firms it is replaced by

the value of the premiums received)~

It was calculated that in 1971 some 25 of the combinations which took

place inside the Community would have met the criterion of 1,000 million

u.a.

X/494/73-E

IRT ~o., 204, 2 October 1973. ANNEX 2 g.1

RECYCLDTG OF RAN' Ml\.TERIALS

under the multi-annual research programme of the European Community

Mankind tod.a.y is rapidly consuming reserves which have taken millions

of years to accumulate in the earth. The growth rate of the world ts

population and its standard of living, combined with the progress of

technology in the industrialized world, engender an exponential increase

in the de~And for raw materials. Consequently, there is a risk that,

despite more advanced techniques of prospection, mining and

extraction of ores, certain natural resourqes will be completely used up,

in particular. the non-renewable resources. Numerous metals fall into

this ~tegory, notably mercury, lead, gold, zinc, silver, platinum and

tin: it is estimated that these metals could be used up in the next 20

years.

Before such reserves are fully depleted we shall naturally witness

sharp increases in their cost, because of market laws and the need to

exploit increasingly low-as~ deposits.

It will then be necessary to resort to methods of substitution, replacing

one material by another which has similar characteristics and is available

in larger quantities. The possibility of re-using spent materials by

re~rcling will also become very important.

Re~Jcling will become all ~he more n3cessary as the problem of depleted

reserves is aggravated by that of environmental deterioration, and as

many scrapped materials dumped in the environment represent a severe source

of pollution.

Extensive research and development is needed if economic methods for the

substitution and recycling of various materials are to be developed in time

to avert a critical shortage in various industrial sectors in the near future.

X/494/73-E

This is the backgr0und against which a research project on raw materials

recycling is to be carried out b,y the Joint Research Centre. The

project forms part of the Community multi-annual research programme put

forward by the European Commission''and ·a.dopt~d by the Council o·f Ministers

in June 1973 (see IRT No. 195). The first phase will consist mainly

in making an exploratory analysis of the situation and carrying out a

few specimen studies. The funds assigned to this phase are somovrhat

limited (1.65 million u.a.).

The programme of the Joint Research Centre on raw materials recycling

will fall into two parts:

(a) by means of systems-analysis type studies it will be possible to draw

up, for certain minerals, a table of present demand and estimated

future consumption in the vnrious sectors of industrial and social

activity, together 'l'li th a table of the available or foreseeable

resources classified according to their accessibility. Possible

substitutes will be taken into considerativn, and a preliminary

estimate will be made of the magnitude of the various possible

degrees of recycling. A mathematical model of the system will be

composed in order to study its sensitivity to the various strategies.

On the basis of these studies it should be possible to define the

areas in which research could be most usefully carried out arid more

or less quantify the advantages it might yield;

(b) pilot feasibilit~r studies will be carried out on certain recycling

or substitution processes, in order to furnish the necessary data

for the systems-analysis studies and to be able to form an opinion

on certain new tecl~iques.

For the time being, research will be concentrated on a limited nUmber of

meto.ls selected either on account of their expected scarcity in the near

future or because, when disposed of, they pollute the environment. The

metals in question are chromium, lead, tin a~d platinoids.

X/494/73-E

Obviously, the research carried out ~J the Joint Research Centre will be

very much like a pilot study to start with, and it can only be really

significant if it is backed by European collaboration. Furthermore,

the progrrummc cannot be implemented without a quantity of statistical

material and tecl1nico-economic information, which can only be obtained

by surveys of current research and industry in Europe. The collecting of

data and establishing of the necessary contacts will be started shortly;

extensive reference will be had to the work already carried out in this field

by the European Commission. It may be supplemented by contract work

accomplished by specialized institutes and organizations in the Community

countries.

IRT No. 20~• 2 October 12131 ANNEX 3 ;e.1 M"( I I I I:.CW.....,.. I B H2 taW± I I R "~ k 1

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

!so.,!Pa

added to the scientific and technical library of the

Commission of the European Cormmmi ties. These l·rorks

may be consulted at the library (1, avenue de Corbenberg,

1040 Brussels, Loi Office, 1st floor, No. 43) or borrowed

Growth by Intussusception (EU 17495 (44) Ecological Ess~s in Honor of Go Evelyn Hutchinson Deevey, E.s. (Ed..) Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences - The Shoe String Press, Hamden~ Corm., 1972

lfi.lieub:'l.lans va.n Ned.er land (EtJ 17 460) :Mulckhuyse, J.J. Intermediair, Amsterdk~, 1972

!hVironment -I -Rapport de la Republique f6der~le d'Alle~e sur l'Environnement de l'Homme (EU 17351 f) Stockholm, June 1972 Bund.esregierung - Bundesminister des Innern, Ger~, Bonn.1 1972

Energie, Mensch und Umwelt (EU 17461 (7)) Bailey, R. & Broadbent, D. & Esposito, J. & Gaskell, Th. F. ~ ••• La.ng, Bern, 197 3

Development of Environmental Health (BU .1979 ( 511 ) e)) Criteria for Urban Planning World Health Organization, Geneva, 1972

Mutagenic Effects of Environmental Contaminants (EU 13096 D (10)) Sutton, H. Eldon & Harris, Maureen I. (Ed.) Academic Press, New York, NY, 1972

The Environmental Future (EU 17487) Proceedings of the First International Conference on Environmental Future held in Helsinki, 27 June to 3 July 1971 Polunin, Nicholas (Ed.) Ma.cmilla.n, London, 1972

X/494/73-E

IRT Jio .. 20.;., 2 O,ct,ober 1973, ANNEX 3. J?,•.£

Tous les probleme~ juridiques·des pollutions et nuisances industrielles (EU 3218 N) Grenier-S:1rgos

9 Aline

Delmas, Paris, 1973

Droit de la protection de la nature et de lfenvironnement (EU 17516) Lamarque, Jean & Pacteau, B. & Const3.11tin, F. & :Vacrez, R. Lib~airie Generale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, Paris, 1973

Code permanent environnement et nuisances (EU 17486) Editions Legislatives et luiministratives, Paris, s.d.

Analyse de l'espace (EU 17469 A) Decentralisation dans l'industrie electronique en France de 1954 a 1970 Constans, Franqoise Association Universitaire de Recherches Geographiques et Caragraphiques, France, s. 1., 1972

~~ols de l'~~rope (EU 15314 (37)) Mangin, Ch. - M. La Documentation Franqaise, Paris, f973 .

Pollution ··- -=r·cno-

Nuisances et Survie (EU 17514 (4)) Frederica, Robert Bordas Poche, Paris, 1972

Pollution in the L.ir (EU 17481) Problems, Policies and Priorities Scorer, R.S. Routledge & Kesan, London, 1973

Economic Thinking and Pollution Problems (EU 17459) Auld, DoA.L. (Ed.) University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1972

Pour une politiquo de lutte contra la pollution des mers (~11 15&12 (12)) GROUPE INTEIDITNIS'l'.!;!,'RIEL D'ETUDE DES PROBLEI•lS DE POLLUTION LE LA MER La Documentation Francaise, Paris, 1973

?.

··~ .,

X/494/73-E

t:RT No. 20;1, 2 Oct,oJ~.::;r 191~, l'.NN]'q 3 P•.:i

Ra.dia;tio.n m:,otection. Radioactive waste

Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials (EU 630 (6) 71973 e)) - 1973 Revised Edition INTERNATIONAL ATOM! C ENERGY AGE:NCY & WORLD HF.ALTH ORGI\.NIZATION, Wien, 1973